Japanese-Taiwanese actor Kaneshiro Takeshi (33) joined director John Woo (61) in Beijing yesterday to promote the troubled movie “The Battle of Red Cliff”. With a ¥9-billion ($75 million) budget, making it the biggest independent film ever, and the first of two episodes to be released before the Beijing Olympics in 2008, the movie has drawn huge interest. But Woo has had a ton of trouble with his casting. Chow Yun-Fat was the biggest name on the bill but left just three days after shooting started last month, citing lack of preparation time. His role as Zhao Yun, a general of the Kingdom of Shu, was given to Hu Jun; Watanabe Ken was cast as Cao Cao, the last Chancellor of Eastern Han Dynasty, but was dropped following protests over a Japanese actor playing a Chinese historical figure; and Tony Leung rejected his original role and was lured back with Chow’s part; Taiwan-born Kaneshiro was brought in to replace Leung in the role of Zhuge Liang, the legendary strategist of the Kingdom of Shu. The movie is based on the greatest battle described in the “sangokushi”, or Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the great Chinese historical novel written in the 14th century. As the battle of Red Cliff is said to have involved over a million soldiers, Woo has set up several units to film various scenes. Sangokushi is the Japanese reading of the Chinese classic, and has spawned a series of hugely popular manga, anime and computer games. Asked about his late arrival to the project, Kaneshiro said “I’ve been a big fan of the manga and game versions since I was small, so I know the story.” He is certainly no stranger to Chinese historical epics, having just finished “The Warlords” with Jet Li and Andy Lau.
• Popular actor Tsukamoto Takashi (24) is the latest young star to announce a shotgun wedding. His fiancee is a 31-year-old office worker who he met in the autumn of 2003. They started dating in May 2005, found out she was pregnant in February,and got engaged on April 14. Meanwhile, former Morning Musume member Tsuji Nozomi (19) and actor Sugiura Taiyou (26) held a press conference yesterday to talk about their wedding plans. Sugiura said he proposed on March 10 though it wasn’t until a week or so ago that Tsuji discovered she was pregnant. They plan to marry on her 20th birthday but have no plans for a ceremony this year.